


New Beginnings and Tickles

by Fortheoneatopthecity



Category: Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Consensual Kink, Cuddling & Snuggling, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Kissing, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Mutual Masturbation, Tickle Fights, tickle kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:15:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27089251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fortheoneatopthecity/pseuds/Fortheoneatopthecity
Summary: It's been five years since Sebastian LaCroix, along with his Sheriff, Kamau, and the Fledgling, turned his back on the Camarilla to join with the Los Angeles Anarchs and help kick the Camarilla out of LA, restoring the city to a true Anarch Freestate. But even so, LaCroix's sudden changing of sects has aroused suspicion among the Anarchs, especially Nines Rodriguez, and he took it upon himself to keep a close eye on the ex-Camarilla Prince.  However, as the years have passed, Nines has found himself growing more comfortable around his once former enemy, and on this peaceful night, he discovers that he has a little more in common with LaCroix than he had first thought...
Relationships: Sebastian LaCroix/Nines Rodriguez
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	New Beginnings and Tickles

Nines could feel his shoulders relax as he stepped through the doors of the entrance hall of the Skyline apartments. It was as though the weight of the outside world and all his responsibilities were lifted off his shoulders, if only for tonight at least.

Nines pushed the call button for the elevator, eyeing briefly the three-year-old Ebola Cereal leaflets left by the entrance. As the elevator pinged, and the doors opened, he picked up one of the dusty leaflets and glanced through it during the ride up to the fourth floor. Nines couldn’t say that he would be forever regretful of missing Ebola Cereal’s once-in-a-lifetime concert tour, it would more likely be the sort of music that was popular with the internet edgy teen crowd than what would appeal to his tastes. Song titles like ‘Silicone Tits of the Undead’ or ‘A serial killer visits a Red Spot’ made Nines’ eyes roll hard. Maybe the younger Anarchs were right about him turning into an old man…

Nines didn’t a hundred percent understand why he always felt so much at ease when going on his nightly check-ins with the Kid and LaCroix. In the beginning, when Nines’ distrust of the former Prince’s intentions had been at an all-time high, he hadn’t particularly enjoyed dealing with the man’s scowling annoyance, he really had found it difficult to believe that after nearly two years of trying to claim LA for the Camarilla that LaCroix had finally woken up to the true threat the Sabbat and Kuei-jin were posing. But thankfully, despite their many arguments, Nines and LaCroix had never ended up coming to blows, due mostly to the Kid’s diplomatic nature calming them both down.

Yet, during the Anarch and Camarilla joint campaign against the Sabbat and Kuei-jin Nines found himself gaining some level of respect for LaCroix, as the Ventrue had shown that he did have a tactical mind when it came to sabotage. Also, the fact that LaCroix hadn’t been dismissive towards Nines when he had pointed out the issues the troops would encounter during the organised ambushes against the Sabbat warehouses and hideouts, had been a rather pleasant surprise.

LaCroix had even defended Nines whenever the shit-for-brains Ventrue and Toreador Primogen tossed out their equally worthless nit-picking opinions against any advice he had given. Jesus, even Strauss had looked like he was ready to set those two on fire right there and then! Gary on the other hand, drew their ire by giving the Ventrue and Toreador Primogen snidely put zingers. Honestly, hearing those had made Nines’ night! Those assholes needed to have a taste of their own medicine!

Looking back, it shouldn’t have come as a shock that, after the dust had settled, LaCroix, along with the Kid and Gary, would have gotten real tired of their shit. But it was still a shock that LaCroix would be actually willing to not only break ties with the Camarilla to join the Anarchs but also prove his new found loyalty to the cause by helping chase his former sect out of the city.

Los Angeles was finally and truly once again a Free State and that it was partly due to LaCroix’s help had been a hard pill for Nines to swallow for a good while, not to mention, he had also found it hard to believe that LaCroix’s loyalty was a hundred percent with the Anarchs, Nines had kept thinking that there had to be an alternative motive involved, like he was planning to make himself Baron of Downtown or something.

And while Nines did still think that having a Barony all to himself was likely something LaCroix would be planning for, none of his actions these past five years had shown that was his goal. Instead he had offered Nines his influence in the local news media and law enforcement to help monitor and cover up any Masquerade breaches. Nines had taken him up on his offer, since they had been needing things to be running more smoothly again in LA, like when Jeremy McNeil had been still around, but he made sure to keep his eye on LaCroix, despite the faith the Kid had in his newfound loyalty. Just because a snake changes sides doesn’t mean he isn’t still inclined to poison you and change sides back again and that was something Nines, Isaac and Therese could all agree upon.

When the elevator doors opened, Nines shoved the leaflet in his pocket and ran a hand through his hair as he stepped out into the tiny fourth floor hallway and knocked on the apartment door. While listening to the footsteps slowly making their way towards the door, Nines adjusted his collar so it wasn’t crooked and smoothed out the creases of his undershirt, telling himself that he simply didn’t want to give LaCroix the chance to make a wry comment on his casual appearance again. It wasn’t like he had any other reason to look good for the guy.

The door opened, revealing LaCroix’s pretty and regal face, his icy blue eyes seemingly brightening upon gazing at Nines. “Oh, Mr Rodriguez, what a pleasant surprise to have you visit so early tonight! Please do come in,” he said in a tone that had both gracefulness and a hint… of arrogance? Sarcasm? Interest, perhaps? Nines couldn’t be sure but his mind hummed with a gentle excitement at listening to LaCroix’s voice in person again. Funny how LaCroix’s mixed up accent of English, Atlantic and a little bit of French had become pleasing to Nines’ ears since the man had stopped trying to sell him on Camarilla bullshit.

“Yeah, thankfully things are a lot more quiet tonight. Are things on your end good?” Nines asked, following LaCroix inside and taking a seat on the grey-blue couch.

LaCroix placed a couple of wine glasses on the coffee table in front of them. “It is also rather calm on my end tonight. It appears that the endless Jyhad is giving Los Angeles a much needed break, although, if you excuse my long years’ gained pessimism, I am hoping this isn’t the calm before the storm,” he mused while going over to the fridge and pulling out a wine bottle filled with rich smelling blood.

“Nah, I get it, I’m hoping the shit isn’t going to be hitting the fan again either,” Nines related while stretching out his arms and watching LaCroix pour him a glass of blood. Honestly, with the delighted smile on the Ventrue’s face, Nines could tell that he enjoyed playing the host. “But I’m not gonna let whatever bullshit could come our way ruin my night.”

“That is the sort of attitude that I’ve been trying to cultivate in myself these nights. Sadly, it’s been a rather slow process, as I’ve been too accustomed to expecting the worst,” he replied with an easy chuckle, handing Nines his glass of blood.

Nines took the glass, feeling like one of those snobby wine connoisseurs as he sniffed the blood before taking a big sip. It smelled and tasted even more rich than he had first thought. LaCroix often did serve the good stuff whenever Nines visited, it had to be probably due to the Ventrue sense of pride in being a good host, but it had never been this damned good before. “Give yourself a break, LaCroix, it takes time to be willing to accept some positivity in your life. Even if it’s a small positive, it’s still something good happening in your life.”

“Yes, I do believe that you are right.” The brief intensity in LaCroix’s eyes as his gaze flickered over to Nines’ made him wonder what was going on in his mind. Nines also stole a look to see how nicely LaCroix’s greyish lilac dress shirt and dark purple matching suit pants and waistcoat fitted to his frame. Of course, LaCroix noticed his wandering eyes and gave a quick smirk in return before seating himself besides Nines, though not too close.

This level of easy intimacy that had been steadily growing between him and LaCroix over the past five years had begun to make it hard for Nines to remember that they had used to be at each other’s throats at one point. It would take only one verbal admittance that this was a little more than friendly camaraderie between members of the same sect. But what had held Nines back was that he still felt this lingering doubt of whether this was all just part of LaCroix’s plan to regain power.

So Nines instead pulled his gaze away from LaCroix’s pouty lips and swiftly changed the topic, “So where’s the Kid? I thought they would be here with you tonight.”

LaCroix’s expression became a little stiffer for a moment before shifting himself on the couch and flashing Nines a fond smile. “Oh well, they’re out on a date with Kamau this evening. I do believe they are having a midnight visit to the library and then later the museum.”

“Very cultured, are you going to be playing waiter and chef for them later when they get back?” Nines remarked with big grin. He could see the scene clearly in his mind, the Kid and Kamau sitting at a makeshift table of a big wooden crate, covered in a white and red checkered table cloth and a single candle between them, gazing at each other lovingly. LaCroix would be dressed in a fancy waiter’s uniform, handing them menus and speaking to them in a thicker French accent than normal to set the mood. Oh, and the moon would be full to add to the romantic atmosphere.

LaCroix’s chuckle broke Nines out of these whimsical imaginings, “Oh, no, I’m afraid I won’t be doing that again!”

“Oh? You’ve done it before? When and how much of a disaster was it?” Nines jokingly asked, leaning closer to the Ventrue, their shoulders brushing against each other. LaCroix’s lips parted open slightly and his hand gingerly hovered near Nines’ shoulder before then quickly pulling back.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it was a complete disaster, thank you very much!” he said with false indignation, “But I will say it was a struggle to keep the atmosphere romantic for them when the neighbours felt the need to play this new ‘metal’ music the youth of today are so fond of, on the highest volume and at three o’clock in the morning!”

“They wouldn’t happen to have been playing Ebola Cereal that night?” Nines then pulled the band leaflet out of his pocket and showed it to LaCroix, who sighed deeply and rolled his eyes.

“Ughh! Why hasn’t someone thrown out that old pile of leaflets yet? All they do is clog up the entrance hall and make it look terribly untidy!” LaCroix said with a hiss as he snatched the leaflet from Nines’ hand. After taking a quick glance at the leaflet he promptly stood and started to rip it up, tossing it disdainfully into a nearby waste bin. “Such musical nonsense I’ll never be able to truly understand!”

Nines laughed, honestly, the Ventrue could be such a drama queen at times. “Nice to know that I’m not alone in having the same feeling!” Although there wasn’t any way he was going to let Damsel or Skelter know that he and LaCroix were both grumpy old men, not understanding the appeal of the music of the current generation. They would be making fun of him for months and Nines would be having to avoid ‘old man yells at clouds’ jokes being thrown his way for at least the next two hundred years or so.

“And it’s nice to have another thing in common with you, Rodriguez.” LaCroix replied smoothly upon retaking his place back on the couch, his face closer to Nines’ than before.

“Come on, you can call me Nines, LaCroix.” The words just slipped out of Nines’ mouth so easily that it was concerning to him. What had happened to keeping his guard up? Well from how Nines found his hand now resting on LaCroix’s knee, apparently a part of him was throwing all caution to the wind.

“And you can also do me the favour of calling me Sebastian.” The moment Sebastian placed his hand over Nines’, was when he should’ve pulled away. The great blood, the intense glances thrown his way, showed the Ventrue was wanting something more from him. Hell, the whole thing felt like a home date, the only thing missing was the rose petals, candles and dimmed lights.

“Sure, okay, Sebastian.” And well, it wasn’t like Nines was doing much to discourage it either, he was the one that had leant close to Sebastian earlier and put his hand on his knee. Regardless of the possible risks involved of taking this closeness he had with his former enemy to the next level, he wanted this.

Nines brought his hands up to the side of Sebastian’s waist, his fingers lightly brushing against his clothed skin, making the Ventrue giggle under his breath. _Aw, is the little former Prince ticklish here?_ Nines started to purposely tickle Sebastian’s sides, causing him to laugh harder and lean closer against him.

“Oh-he- plea-se stop it’s mak-king me…” Sebastian trailed off. Even though the Ventrue’s laughter was still lighthearted in nature and he had made no moves to push Nines away from him, he quickly stopped tickling him.

But of course no sooner had Nines stopped than Sebastian snaked his fingers beneath his undershirt and unleashed a merciless tickle attack, which made him laugh like crazy, since he was super ticklish, always had been since he was a kid. However this felt different somehow, more intense and arousing for Nines, his blood was becoming hot and rushing throughout his body, and it was the same for Sebastian as well, for he could feel the other man’s body become wonderfully warm to the touch.

As Sebastian pressed himself against Nines, he shifted his hips and felt how hard the Ventrue’s clothed cock was, it made him moan through his near uncontrollable laughter. “Ohh- my G-god! That’s sooo- unfair, Sebastian!” Nines gasped out. Just managing to bear the incredibly overwhelming sensations Sebastian’s tickling had caused, he pulled up his waistcoat and dress shirt to tickle the cheeky little asshole back. As Nines tickled Sebastian’s sides as hard as he had received, he noted that the Ventrue’s skin was smooth and soft to the touch.

Sebastian slid backwards on the couch, allowing Nines to straddle him and continue his tickling torment, although it couldn’t have been that awful for him, as he was panting out moans and thrusting his hips against Nines. “Looks like we both have a tickle fetish, Sebastian. Can’t say I was expecting that to be another thing we would have in common!” Nines murmured, bending his head down to lick Sebastian’s neck with the tip of his tongue, tickling his Adam’s apple.

“Ooh! That’s w-what it is?” Sebastian cried out, his hands trying and failing to tickle Nines back, instead his fingers ended up grasping onto his flesh. He moaned loudly, clearly too overcome with the feeling of Nines simultaneously aggressively tickling the skin of his torso and teasing his Adam’s apple with fast strokes of the very tip of his tongue. “Ahh-h that’s too- much!”

Nines stopped again, watching Sebastian take in deep breaths for a couple of moments. “Well, if that’s your reaction to just my fingers and tongue, I can’t wait to see how you’ll take being tickled with a feather duster!” he joked, pressing his lips onto Sebastian’s, the Ventrue quickly reciprocating by wrapping his arms around Nines’ neck and kissing back passionately. _Guess that is a yes then…_

Nines broke off their kiss to trail his tongue down Sebastian’s jaw, back to his Adam’s apple and sucked onto it hard, making him let out a shuddering moan. He deftly unbuttoned Sebastian’s waistcoat and dress shirt, pushing them open to run his hands all over his slim but firm muscled torso. The Ventrue’s long fingers grasped tightly onto Nines’ hair as he tickled his throat with the very tip of his tongue.

Nines inwardly grinned at the way Sebastian was trying and failing to not giggle, enjoying teasing him so much. And he knew that if he gave Sebastian half the chance, he’d want to get his revenge by tickling him back. The very idea of the Ventrue unleashing his tickle attack on him again made Nines’ hard cock twitch. Perhaps he should let him have his way with him then…

Kissing along his jaw, Nines pinched and lightly squeezed Sebastian’s nipples, “You’ve been planning this for a while, then?” he whispered in his ear before softly blowing on it, causing the Ventrue to squirm and moan a chuckle.

“Oh? Whatever do you mean?” Sebastian playfully denied, thrusting and rubbing his crotch against him. Nines unconsciously groaned.

“Oh, you know very well what I mean, Sebastian, don’t you deny it. The Kid and Kamau just ‘happened’ to be out on a date, you serving me some of your best blood and throwing looks my way…” Nines said in a low voice as he gently grazed the skin of Sebastian’s neck with his fangs, his cock beginning to strain against his jeans as he let out another soft moan.

“Hmmm…I’m merely just being a good host to you, and their and Kamau’s little outgoing is merely a coincidence!” Sebastian said evasively, his fingers wandering down to the back of Nines’ neck and tickling a very sensitive spot. His grin widened gleefully when Nines growled in his ear and quickly began to tickle his sides. “It-i-is all but g-gg-good fortune that we ha-ve com-come together like this!”

“Yeah, I-I’ll agree to that- ” Nines cut himself off for moment to moan again, as Sebastian reached a hand down to cup his clothed cock. God, he could feel how much it ached, longing to be free from its confines while Sebastian squeezed and rubbed him. “And it’s nice that we share the same fetish when it comes to tickling but do you wanna take this upstairs? I can’t imagine that you want the Kid and Kamau to see us rolling around on the couch like this.”

Sebastian actually huffed briefly when Nines moved his hands away, “They are both going to be spending the day at a hotel! No-one but an intruder is going to be walking in on us!”

“Interesting that they happen to be planning to stay somewhere else on the same night we’ve started this…” Nines said with obvious skepticism, which made Sebastian roll his eyes at him, though from the slight smile on his lips, it looked like he wasn’t going to keep denying the truth. “But you didn’t answer my question, you wanna stay here or do it upstairs?”

Sebastian chuckled, “So crude of you, Nines. But let’s go up to the bedroom, since I do believe that I have left the feather duster in the closet…” He let out a cry of surprise when Nines lifted him up and slung him over his shoulder, “Oh, you brute! Let me down!” Sebastian laughed, his fists tapping lightly on Nines’ back.

Nines smirked, ignoring Sebastian’s mock protests as he made his way to the stairs, “Hey now, I’ll only be a brute as much as you want me to be!” he teased.

Once he had brought Sebastian to the bedroom, he laid him on the bed and slid open the closet, quickly finding and grabbing the rainbow coloured feather duster. Turning round to Sebastian, who was grinning from ear to ear, Nines crawled onto the bed. “So which one of us is going to go first?” he asked, running his fingers over the ticklish plastic feathers, pretty nice for the job but he would’ve preferred real feather over fake ones.

Sebastian leant in close to Nines, giving him a chaste kiss, before then biting hard on his bottom lip, though thankfully only just enough to send shivers of excitement down Nines’ spine. He brushed the feather duster lightly along the Ventrue’s cheek, making him chuckle against his lips. Nines trailed the feather duster down along his jaw to his neck and then to his chest, paying special attention to his nipples.

He was rewarded with shaky moans from Sebastian, his slim fingers grasping onto Nines’ blue overshirt, shoving it off his shoulders. Nines slowly moved the feather duster down his stomach and brushed up and down on his hard-on. Sebastian bit onto his lip again and clawed onto Nines’ biceps. Nines flicked out his tongue to lick the top of his lips and, with his spare hand, quickly undid Sebastian’s belt and fly, reaching inside to pull out his hardened cock.

Nines broke off the kiss to watch Sebastian’s wonderful shaky reaction to having the feather duster brushed along his cock. “Ooooh! Sto-oop it, i-it’s too much!” he cried out, snatching the feather duster out of Nines’ hand. “Get undressed and lie down on the bed!” Sebastian commanded, gesturing at the top of the bed with the feather duster to illustrate his point.

Well, Nines didn’t need to be told twice, but he couldn’t help but add a little jab at Sebastian’s expense as he pulled off the rest of his clothes, “I see that even without your Princely title, you still love to boss me around.”

Sebastian smirked as he looked appreciatively at Nines’ naked form, leaned in close to him and murmured in his ear, “I may not be a Prince nor of the Ivory Tower anymore but I am still a Ventrue, so I do expect a little bit of obedience every now and again.” Nines had to admit that statement of Sebastian’s would’ve normally got his Brujah rage pumping, but in this context it brought up a very _different_ type of passion within him.

“Oh, yeah? As long you keep it to the hot stuff, I don’t mind you getting off on being a control freak. Just so long as your ego can handle me being a little bit rebellious,” Nines said with a pleased growl, as he grasped onto Sebastian’s ass, giving it a good squeeze.

His cock twitched as Sebastian teased the very tip of his cock with the feather duster. “Oh, I am counting on you being unruly, Nines. But why don’t you do as you are told and lie on the bed. I will make this worth your while…” he whispered before pressing a kiss on Nines’ stubbled jaw.

“You better, I don’t like taking orders from you normally,” Nines teased, shifting himself to lay flat on the bed, resting his head on his hands, exposing his underarms and sides, all for Sebastian to take advantage of.

And take advantage he did. Sebastian first seated his ass on top of Nines’ groin before dusting with the feather duster around his underarms and down along his sides. Nines tittered with laughter as he squirmed and ground his achingly hard cock against the Ventrue’s cute little ass. Encouraged by his reaction, Sebastian then brushed the feather duster up and down Nine’ Adam’s apple and ran his fingers across his nipples. Nines showed his appreciation by letting out a low moan and thrusting his hips up again.

Climbing off his lap, Sebastian then deviously dusted in between Nines’ cock and balls, causing him to gasp out another moan and buckle his hips up into the ticklish feathers. The sensitivity he felt when the feather duster brushed exclusively against his balls was almost a little too much for Nines and he nearly brought his hand down to push it away from him, but he didn’t, not wanting to be beaten nor desiring for the overwhelming sensations to stop either, they felt way too good.

In between feeling overcome with torturous pleasure, Nines was able to see Sebastian looking at him with gleeful excitement and stroking his own cock, the head starting to leak pre-cum. Taken in by that arousing sight, Nines reached a hand down to wrap it around his own aching and twitching cock and began to pump it fast and rough. Combined with the constant stimulation Sebastian was giving his balls by tickling them with the feather duster and his own fast jerking of his cock, Nines could see through his blurry eyesight that he too was starting to leak pre-cum.

And God, if this continued at this rate, he was going to cum pretty soon. “Sebastian, pl-ple-ease stop, I don’t wanna c-cum just y-yet!” He pleaded, even though he didn’t remove his hand off his own cock.

“Very well, since you’ve remembered your manners…” Sebastian said with a lift of his chin, as he moved the feather duster away from Nines’ balls to trail lightly down his leg, sending more shivers all around his body. “And since I don’t want to have you make a mess on the only feather duster we have, I’ll put it back in it’s place.”

Nines raised an eyebrow as he watched Sebastian place the feather duster inside the closet and slide the door closed, “Oh, come on, like you can’t afford to buy another one! And how come you’ve got a plastic feather duster rather than one that has real feathers?”

Sebastian chuckled while he pulled down his suit pants and removed his shoes. “Would you be so willing to explain to your friends why there’s a strange stain on the duster if you were in my shoes?” _Well, he’s got me on that one!_ Sebastian continued, “And, well, as for why we didn’t have a feather duster with real feathers? I can’t say I was expecting to entertain company in such a way as we are now!”

“Yeah, right, like you aren’t getting off on it too. Now come on the bed already!” Nines demanded, licking his lips and patting a spot next to him.

“Oh, don’t you order me around!” Sebastian said with lighthearted defensiveness, climbing back on the bed to straddle over Nines’ hips and press a kiss on his mouth.

“I can and will!” Nines wrapped his arms around Sebastian, flipping their positions and grinding his cock against his. “Now, how do you want us to get off?” he asked, sucking and lightly biting the arch of Sebastian’s throat.

Sebastian’s eyes fluttered rapidly as he moaned softly. “Touch me,” he breathed out, his hand caressing down Nines’ torso, wrapping his fingers around his leaking cock.

Nines smiled and took hold of Sebastian’s cock, pumping it gently, watching his icy blue eyes relax and his lips part open as he groaned. He growled in his ear as he felt the Ventrue’s thumb tease the head of his cock by rubbing it in circular motions. “Oh, damn, you’re a tease,” Nines murmured in Sebastian’s ear, before using the tip of his tongue to tease his earlobe.

Sebastian chuckled a moan, “Oh, I’m nothing of the sort!” And with that his hand tightened around the base of Nines’ cock, pumping him so fast that it nearly made him lose it right then and there.

 _Two can play it at this game!_ Nibbling gently on his lobe, Nines used his Celerity to increase the speed of his pumping of Sebastian’s cock, watching proudly the way he moaned loudly and his body shuddered near uncontrollably. Finally Sebastian came with a shout, his cum spurting all over Nines’ hand and stomach.

A minute passed before Sebastian recovered enough to roughly jerk off Nines’ cock and massage his balls until he came hard as well. Satisfied, Nines slumped against Sebastian and embraced him, pressing tender kisses on his throat and mouth. The Ventrue kissed back passionately and wrapped his arms around his neck, clinging onto him fiercely.

After a while their kisses slowed and they both lay still in each other’s arms. Nines gazed down at a messy-haired but very content looking Sebastian. “So, that was fun,” was all he could manage to say, he didn’t want to voice the panicked thoughts running amok in his mind about where they would go from here.

“Yes indeed,” Sebastian replied in a soft cheerful tone, but Nines could see in his eyes a tiny shard of disappointment, as though he had been expecting something more from him, like he had hoped for a confirmation that this was more than just a fun, kinky one-night stand.

Well, wasn’t that it, just a little bit of fun? Nines momentarily reflected on how comfortable he had become with coming here to check on Sebastian over the years. No, it didn’t feel like a one time thing, for Nines felt a great excitement at the thought of coming back here to explore this tickle kink they both had. Though the idea of suggesting to Sebastian that they become fuck-buddies seemed like a good way to inspire a false hope that might crash into hurt feelings down the line.

But the thing was, he couldn’t really blindly leap into a deeper relationship with Sebastian either. Sure they were both grumpy old Kindred who didn’t understand the modern music that the kids today enjoyed but other than that and the tickling kink, they didn’t have much else in common, or at least, Nines supposed they didn’t. He had never thought to try and find out…

“So what kind of movies you like to watch?” Nines found himself suddenly blurting out. He cringed at himself, maybe he should’ve started with asking what kind of books Sebastian enjoyed reading instead.

Sebastian blinked rapidly before staring at Nines with disbelief in his eyes. A moment later he recovered himself, “Well, I have to admit that I’m rather fond of the old Hollywood movies, especially ones before that stupid Hays code was put into place!”

“Got one we can watch?” Nines asked, shifting himself to lay on his back, resting his head on his hands. “I mean, they’ve gotta have been released on dvd or something by now, and plus, we might as well continue this little date of ours, even if we did it in the wrong order.”

Sebastian moved himself closer to Nines before resting his head on his chest, his lips pulled into a soft contented smile. “Well, I’m sure I might have one somewhere, but first we would have to get ourselves cleaned up,” he said, gesturing to their little mess.

Nines wrapped an arm around his shoulders, hearing the Ventrue gently sigh. “Good point, but somehow I don’t quite feel like leaving this bed yet.” _Or you for that matter… I wanna know how long you’ve felt this about me,_ he thought but knew it would be a little out there to just outright ask Sebastian about it, even though he really wanted to.

“Neither do I,” Sebastian agreed, getting up for a moment to reach for a bed sheet to cover them both with. He snuggled closer to Nines, tentatively tracing circles on his chest, his fingers brushing lightly against his chest hairs, making Nines a little ticklish.

Pressing a kiss onto Sebastian’s forehead, Nines then whispered jokingly, “You keep doing that, and I’ll be ready for the next round.”

Sebastian smirked, his fingers stilled, “So nice to know how easily I can get you all worked up. But I do hope you don’t mind if we lay like this for a little longer.”

“No problem, I’m enjoying being like this with you as well.” There was something about the way Sebastian’s eyes brightened up and his whole being seemingly melted against him, that made Nines all of a sudden feel all warm and soft inside. He might be easy to arouse, but the way Sebastian took to the slightest bit of affection he was given made Nines wonder how often he got any real affection. The idea of the answer being not very much made him feel a little sorry for the Ventrue, but he quickly shook it off, knowing that Sebastian would unlikely appreciate his pity. Instead Nines brought his fingers to stroke along Sebastian’s cheek. They soon fell into comfortable silence and as they held each other, time seemed to stand still.

Nines didn’t know if it was the cosy atmosphere created by them both cuddling each other under the sheet or the afterglow that was still going strong that made him now feel comfortable enough to ask, “So how long have you- um, wanted to do this?”

Sebastian’s previously relaxed icy blue eyes shot up wide in response to his question. “Oh, I-I oh, um, well,” he paused for a second to get himself together, “Well, I have always found you an attractive man, even when we were enemies…” he fidgeted with his fingers, “but this desire for us actually to come together like this didn’t really come about until we started working in collaboration to destroy the Sabbat and Kuei-jin.”

Nines stared blankly at Sebastian for a moment, feeling that this was probably as close as he was getting to receiving a confession of love, maybe, from him, and he didn’t know how to feel about that. Although Nines felt himself begin to reciprocate Sebastian’s feelings, on the other hand, he was also sensing a stab of panic as to where this all could lead.

And yet the urge to take a blind leap was strong, some chances were worth trying for. “What do you want from this, do you want us to date?” Nines asked, cupping Sebastian’s jaw and looking into his eyes, seeing that nervousness slowly vanish away.

The Ventrue’s hand clasped over his, “I-I have to admit, I didn’t think that I would get this far, but in no other words, yes, I would like to ‘date’ you.” Then his eyes flashed with panic, as though he was second guessing himself, “But I understand for the sake of your reputation, you couldn’t possibly be seen getting cosy with an old enemy, Kindred’s memories are long and grudges even more so- ”

Nines quickly interrupted, “Whoa, whoa, hang on, Sebastian, I understand what you’re saying but I think we’ll worry about that when we cross that bridge. But it doesn’t change the fact that I want to see where this thing between us goes.”

Sebastian seemed to calm down at his reassurance, “I’m happy to hear that, but if we are going to date I would like, for the sake of your reputation, to do it in secret, for now, at least. I don’t want to have all your hard work come undone, all because you decided to have feelings for me beyond disdain.”

What he was saying did make sense, Nines knew that Damsel and Skelter were going to freak when they found out about him and Sebastian, not to mention the rest of the Anarchs wouldn’t be impressed. Isaac would be pissed, Therese, he didn’t know, maybe also angry or perhaps she’d just simply criticise him. Jack, hell if he was around, maybe he’d make fun of him for it or just get all sulky like he did when the Anarchs took back the city. Nines never did get a chance to ask him what that was all about before he left to go on the high seas again.

But even so, this idea to date in secret wasn’t something Nines was entirely comfortable with, it would feel like he was in the closet again, though for a very different reason. “Sebastian, I-I want to say that I don’t care about that but I know that you have a point. But I hate the idea of making you my little secret because I don’t play like that with relationships.”

Sebastian’s fingers tightened around his hand, “I didn’t you think did, but for now, I would be more comfortable keeping this secret, if only in case this ever goes horribly wrong, we won’t be airing our dirty laundry to all of Los Angeles!”

“That’s also a good point, but if we don’t crash and burn, will you be okay with us being open as a couple to the rest of the Anarchs?” Seeing his lips pressed together tightly and trembling slightly, made Nines quickly add, “It’s okay if you can’t answer now, but remember you aren’t in the Camarilla anymore.”

“True, but that doesn’t mean it’s not treacherous to be so open about yourself, Nines.”

Nines rolled on his side to face him, freeing his hand to hold Sebastian close, “I’m aware but I’m not going to hide you away forever if we continue this, and again I do want to explore this with you.” Sebastian smiled at that.

But perhaps they were getting ahead of themselves. All this talk of having a relationship when he didn’t even know why Sebastian was so into him in the first place. “So aside from how attractive you think I am, what is it about me that you like so much?”

He buried his face in the crook of Nines’ shoulder, “I could ask you the same, but what has drawn me to you is how open you are about, well, everything. I used to hate it at first, however it has grown on me, as I’ve come to realise it’s exactly what I’ve been needing the most.”

“Well, aside from you being really good looking and your smooth, like velvet voice, I like how you are adventurous and willing to take chances, and plus, you’re a gracious host.” That last one got Sebastian grinning like a dork, and Nines had to kiss him for it, which made the Ventrue chuckle.

“I have to say that I find your rough voice rather pleasing to my ears as well!” Sebastian stated before kissing Nines back.

They kissed gently and held onto each other tightly, before Nines pulled away slightly and rubbed his nose against Sebastian’s. “Well, that’s something we can play around with sometime, but do you still wanna stay in bed and cuddle or shall we see if we can find a precode movie to watch?”

Sebastian considered his suggestion for a few seconds before answering with a satisfied smile. “Very well, perhaps we shall, but first we’ll both have to use the shower at the same time for us to be clean in a timely manner,” he said suggestively. He couldn’t have been anymore obvious if he had also waggled his eyebrows at the same time.

Nines laughed, threw off the blanket and picked up Sebastian in his arms, who yelped in surprise but then soon wrapped his arms around his neck. “I guess, we best get a move on then!” he said and kissed Sebastian passionately on the lips again, before making his way to the bathroom.

“Yes, let’s!” replied Sebastian with a somewhat dreamy look in his eyes.

Nines smiled, he felt the excitement of having this new relationship and wondered where it would take them. And the thrill didn’t just come from this tickle fetish they both shared, but from the thought of how well they’d fit together in the long haul. They were complete opposites, yet had some common ground. Would that be enough? Well there was only one way to find out…


End file.
